day 11
10.32 pm
lee haru

pretty criminals, prettier crimes

the train suddenly stops
at a station halfway to andong
andong is a folk village where
i suggested for us to stop at for awhile

the 15 minute break
eventually turned out to be too boring
so me and jeongguk slip out of the train
after he convinces me to do some exploring

there isn't many shops in this area
the only places where
money can be spent is an old inn
a few convenience stores
and another old souvenier typical shop

when jeongguk suddenly stops
in front of a small park
i turn to him with eyebrows narrowed
hearing a familiar song playing out loud

"bultaorunae"

i freeze, not sure how to react
but my first instinct is to
follow jeongguk's gaze;
seeing a group of 5 teenagers
dancing to a familiar hit song
in the middle of the park

i can't see it through his mask
but i know jeongguk is smiling
the look in his eyes says it all

"don't you want to join them?"
i ask, trying to tease him a little

he laughs, looking away shyly
but instead of being happy
his voice cracks a little as he admits that
"it's been so long"

"jeongguk"

"yeah?"

"you okay?"

he doesn't answer me
instead, his eyes trail up to the
dark sky above us
filled with twinkling stars

"i think"

"are you not going to tell me yet?
why you ran away?"

again, all i hear is his heavy breathing
instead of an answer

thinking that this isn't exactly the
right time to ask him yet
i force a smile pat him softly on the shoulder
and say
"it's nothing, forget i asked
let's go before we get left behind"

and if not for the small group of fangirls
that apparently recognised jeongguk
we would've gotten back to the train
in time

jeongguk pulls me into a safe place
behind a dumpster in an alleyway
as the girls run past us, unaware

i let out heavy breaths of relief
and then without holding back any longer
i break out into uncontrollable sobs

"ahh no, why are you crying?
don't cry, please?"
jeongguk coos softy
pulling me closer

"i feel like a criminal"
i finally say after a long while
"why is it so hard for me to be free?
for us to be free
why is everything so unfair?
why is the world so cruel?"

i hear him laugh
bitter, little chuckles
and i feel him fidgeting a little
as he reaches into his bag
taking out a familiar notebook:
it's the wishlist i left in that old theatre at cheongju

it's been with him all along

my eyes widen as he flips to the next page
where i can see my familiar handwriting
he looks up before holding it out to me

"most of the things on this list are illegal"
he says with an amused smirk
i part my lips to retort
but he beats me to it

"illegally awesome"
he adds with a hint of laughter
and before i can reply him
he ducks out of the alleyway
heading towards the open parking space
where only a few cars were parked

i whisper-shout his name
thinking that he was crazy because
his fans couldn't have gotten far yet
but the next thing he does is even crazier

he pulls open the door of a car
whose careless owner forgot to lock
and begins messing with the wires
as if he was purposely trained to do so

then the engine came to life
and the next thing he does
is to pat the seat beside him
motioning for me to get in

i gape at him in disbelief

"it's on your list isn't it?"
he asks, eyes gleaming
i see stars instead
"steal a car, your #5"

"y-yeah but i wrote that out of boredom
i wasn't thinking straight!"
was i freaking high?

jeongguk lets out a laugh
before patting the seat again
"get in or i'm going to leave you"

rolling my eyes, i finally obey
and the car starts to move

"if you think you're a criminal
then let me join you
we can be criminals together and
have fun at the same time
while we still can"
he muses with a smile
"so, what's next on your little list?"